Small note: I have absolutely zero knowledge of dancing, so I hope I was able to describe what happens below fairly well 😅 As a tip, I recommend listening to the song mentioned. This is the song that gave me the idea for this story. Have fun while reading.

I finished my jog and took a shower. It was strange being so alone in Sam's house, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. I had already looked at the framed photos of his family in the hallway and in every room there was a picture of our team hanging or standing somewhere, which was no wonder when Station Officer Steele made such a point of taking a new one every year.

But what had surprised me most was the picture on Sam's bedside table.

When I went into the bedroom to get my bag from under the bed, I found it lying face down. I thought Sam had knocked it over while making the bed and thought nothing of it when I tried to put it up for tidiness. However, I was completely surprised when I saw that it was a picture of the two of us. We danced together on it. Elvis had made it when we were trying to teach Steele to dance. I didn't even knew Sam had a print of it, let alone that Elvis had ever shown it to me. I quickly put it back down and gathered my things. But I couldn't get it out of my head.

Why did Sam have this here when it was always the first and last thing he saw every day? Did it have something to do with the fact that he had obviously actually told his parents about me? That he raved about me? I couldn't believe that Sam would really feel more for me than just friendship.

I couldn't get the thought out of my head and decided to distract myself with a book after showering. Unfortunately, I did the math without my lack of sleep the night before and quickly fell asleep over the book.

The next thing I knew, someone gently touched my shoulder.

"Hey Pen," I heard Sam's soft voice and I opened my eyes. "If you'd rather sleep, I'll take you to bed. I'll excuse you," he said with a smile as I sat up, embarrassedly rubbing my eyes.

"No, it's okay. Do we have four already?" I asked him when I saw that he had already moved.

"In fact, it's already past 5 p.m. Shortly before closing time, Norman said he could do an escape spell and chained himself to the climbing frame at the playground with chains...at a height of 3 meters." I shook my head, smiling.

"Well then, I more appreciate your little nonsense," I replied with a smile and he raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Are you alluding to something with this?"

"Me? What makes you think that?" I asked innocently and stood up. "I'll change quickly and then we can go."

"As far as I'm concerned, you can leave that on." I turned to him. He had followed me and was leaning in the doorway of the living room and smiling, crossing his hands in front of his chest.

"Should I eat with your parents? In a jogging suit?"

"You're welcome to sit across from me as long as you leave the zipper in that position," he replied with a grin and I looked down only to see that I had only zipped my jacket up to my chest and my bra was flashing out.

"Sam Jones! I thought you were a gentleman?!" I replied frustrated, pulling my jacket up while I realized I was blushing.

"Sorry, Pen. But if you make it so easy for someone," he replied with a shrug and I went into the bedroom. "I'm just a man," I heard him say and I heard his cheeky grin. On a whim, I crumpled the jacket that I had already taken off in my hands and glanced around the corner, then threw my jacket at his head. I had never seen Sam ride this track. On the other hand, I didn't hold it against him; I was actually a little flattered that he was so relaxed and that I really caught his eye in every direction.

"May I ask?" he asked me when I was finished and held out his arm to me.

"So have you come to your senses again?" I replied with a smile and linked arms with him. Was it a good idea to bring up the topic again? We left the house and Sam closed the door behind him.

"I'm always sensible and decent. But I can't deny that there are certain things that even I notice and it's hard not to annoy you a little, especially when you enjoy looking at my baby photos so much, like you did this morning." Oh, that disappointed me a little and I couldn't seem to hide it completely. So he just wanted to annoy me? "But that's exactly how I enjoy looking at you. Very much so. I just wanted to tell you that." This made me blush and I decided to change the subject.

"While we're on the subject of photos, what else did you want to talk to me about?"

"The girl was my dance partner at dance school. My Mom took the picture at the dance class prom. I never saw her again or thought about her again."

"Why are you telling me that?"

"It seemed to me that this picture made you think. It seemed to me to be probably the right answer to your thoughts."

"Your ego is huge, Sam," I replied with a laugh and he looked at me in surprise, his cheeks turning red. "But it's nice that you're so open about it."

"Always, Pen," he replied as we reached the door of the Cafe. "Ready?"

"Ready when you are." He nodded with a smile and opened the door to let me in. "The next time you're so open, explain to me why your Mom calls you a heartthrob," I said quietly as I walked past him and saw how he rolled his eyes in annoyance as the twins greeted us and distracted us.

"Come here and sit with us. Did you make good use of your free time?" Jenni greeted us with a smile and Sam groaned.

"To be precise, I had a lot of rest since Sam was working overtime again," I replied with a smile and felt Sam trying to gently pinch my side because he was immediately reprimanded by his mother for it. I quickly turned away and I decided to go behind the counter and help Bronwyn while Sam sat down.

"What's going on with you two?" she asked me quietly and I looked at her innocently as I reached for a cucumber and a knife, which I began to cut. "Charlie told me about it. Sam told him yesterday in the bathroom in the evening."

"Then why do you ask if you already know?"

"I wanted to know why you offered it to him?" she replied with a grin.

"I wanted to help him. I noticed how much he was suffering."

"He would suffer less if you tell him how you feel about him."

"So that he doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore?"

"So he can finally be with you. Do you think he would have agreed to this if he didn't love you? It's also a chance for him to be close to you. Do you think the two of you can handle it next week? What if you go your separate ways again because you're too stubborn?" How I wished she was right about his feelings. She was also right that I, at least, would have a hard time getting used to being alone again when the time came. I already knew that after that first day.

"We'll see when the time comes." I moved the cucumbers from the cutting board into the bowl with the remaining salad before carrying the bowl to the table and going twice more to get the rest. Bronwyn had long since seen through me and I couldn't lie to her when she asked me about how I felt about her brother-in-law. She had always shown concern and tried to encourage me to open up to him. But I still let my fear guide me.

I sat down next to Sam, who immediately put his arm around me. I returned his smile for a moment. Bronwyn then asked us to eat and it didn't take long for James to redirect the previously innocuous and brief table conversation.

"Uncle Sam?" James now turned to his uncle and he immediately turned his attention to his nephew. "If two people love each other, then they kiss, right?" For heaven's sake. I had an idea where this was going. Why did children always have to question everything?

"Yeah sure, James." I heard the skepticism in Sam's voice - he too had recognized the direction this conversation was taking.

"Then why don't you two kiss?"

"Yes, Sam, then why don't you two kiss?" Charlie asked innocently and blinked flirtatiously at his brother, but in the next moment he grimaced and reached under the table. I guessed that his shin had made painful contact with Sam's foot.

"I'll sit somewhere else tomorrow," he murmured grimly.

"You don't have to worry about that, brother. As of tomorrow we won't be there anymore," Sam objected and I closed my eyes for a moment, grateful that the topic of kissing seemed to be off the table. Sam was in a mood where I trusted him to do it and as much as I would like to do it, I didn't want to run the risk of forgetting myself here in front of the whole Jones family. But now everyone turned their faces to us in surprise for a different reason, except for Jenni and Padrig, who calmly continued to eat.

"Why is that?" Bronwyn asked now.

"Steele has changed the roster and we'll be on the late shift starting tomorrow."

"That means the night shift is canceled?" Charlie asked in surprise and I just nodded when he looked at me questioningly. He immediately turned to Sam and grinned broadly. "That was unexpected, wasn't it, Sam?!" he asked with a grin and I knew he was referring to something even before Sam sullenly slapped a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his face.

"Samuel Peyton Jones!" Jenni protested.

"Mom, he annoys me!"

"How old are you? 5? What kind of picture do you give Penny?"

"Don't worry, Jenni. I can handle it. Sam often tends to act rashly." I glanced at him quickly, but smiled, before turning my attention back to the food in front of me.

"Whatever. You two will still be here to eat," Jenni objected and also continued eating.

"Mom, we can't stay away from work just because you want us to."

"Yes you can. I've cleared that up with Steele. You only work half days and you have Saturday and Sunday off." The food caught in my throat when Padrig said that.

"Dad, you're not serious?!" Sam asked in disbelief as I took a sip.

"What? He said you both had almost all of your vacation left over from last year and that it had to go. What are you collecting it for? Don't you know what to do with each other when you're alone?" I choked up when Padrig said this and immediately felt Sam gently pat my back. I quickly calmed down, but Sam didn't.

"Dad, you can't just file a vacation for us?! What did you tell Steele?" he snapped.

"Well, we just make it a point to spend as much time as possible with our son and our future daughter-in-law while we're here on vacation from our circumnavigation." Sam groaned in annoyance and put his head in his hands. I suspected that what bothered him the most was that it gave the city a wrong image, and his main concern was certainly that I didn't get annoyed or upset.

I put my hand on his thigh and ran my fingers up and down to calm him down. He turned his head a little and looked at me questioningly, which I responded with a smile.

"Keep eating, love. That was very nice of your father. I'm very happy about it," I objected, nodding briefly to Padrig.

Everyone continued to eat and I was glad that the topic was now off the table.

"Love?" he whispered softly in my ear and a pleasant shiver ran down my spine before I turned to him and looked into his eyes, which sparkled with amusement. I gently nudged him with my shoulder to cover my embarrassment and then felt his hand rest on mine.

We continued eating largely in silence until Padrig quickly started talking to Charlie again about his boat and repairing the engine. We were happy to give them this topic of conversation, happy not to be in the crosshairs.

We had just finished and I was helping Bronwyn and Jenni clear the table when Jenni turned up the radio loudly.

"Oh Sami, that's such a beautiful song. Dance with me," she shouted happily and yanked her son from the bench, who allowed himself to be carried away with a mild smile. I watched them out of the corner of my eye as I loaded the dishwasher. They danced a discofox and clearly had fun doing it and I enjoyed watching them. Even though Sam was often embarrassed by his mother, you could see that the two of them had a special connection, which Charlie in turn shared with his father, who were now putting their heads together at the table and were probably still discussing the boat engine. It was amazing how much the two of them had from both parents. While Sam had inherited his father's stature, face and calm and reserved manner, he have gotten the color of his mother's eyes and hair and I was one of the few people who had the pleasure of getting to know his more open and sometimes childish side that was more due to Jenni. With Charlie, everything was the other way around.

The dance ended and the radio announcer announced a new song as I had just finished using the dishwasher and was about to walk back to the table when Jenni grabbed me by my arm and pushed me into Sam's arms.

"Now it's your turn," she objected before sitting down with the others. The children were the only ones who had just danced - not really good, but obviously they were so exhausted that they needed a break. The song started playing and I looked at Sam, perplexed. Small Steps by Tom Gregory? I had no idea how to dance on it, but Sam just smiled, arrived after three bars and led me. We quickly found our rhythm and you could actually only describe it as a freestyle or line dance variant. And even though Sam kept turning me around and we sometimes opened our figure, we always found together and completely lost ourselves in the dance. It was fun, it inspired me and it was a magical moment between Sam and me. No matter how many times we came apart and back together, we maintained constant eye contact, and I thought he knew, as I did, that the lyrics of the song had a deeper meaning for us in that moment, as if that was exactly what Sam was trying to tell me. I saw it in every flash in Sam's eyes, felt it in his every movement and recognized it in the smile that never left his face - just like mine.

When the song ended, it transitioned seamlessly into a quieter piece and Sam put his arms around me and pulled me close. He began to guide us and we swayed gently to the music while looking into each other's eyes and listening to each other's conversations.

"Wow, these two have a connection that is magical," Jenni sighed, completely entranced, and I smiled sheepishly.

"Yes, if they do the dance from Dirty Dancing now, I'll fell to the ground," replied Charlie with a grin and I saw Sam inconspicuously step out to him as we approached him, but also as Bronwyn admonished her husband nudged him in the arm and commented: "Leave them alone. They're such a beautiful couple. We want this to last a long time." I gave Bronwyn an annoyed look and she smiled happily, but Sam turned and she disappeared from my sight. I looked up at him and saw a very happy smile as he looked into my eyes. I could send it back without hesitation. I felt more than comfortable being so close to him.

"That was a lot of fun. Thank you, Sam," I said quietly and his smile grew a little wider.

"I can only give that back," he replied and looked at me questioningly as I briefly lowered my head to suppress a yawn. The hour on the couch this afternoon hadn't made up for the lack of extensive sleep in the last 36 hours, as my body was now telling me.

"We're going home. Penny still has to catch up on sleep because of the night shift," Sam now turned to his family and Jenni looked at the clock.

"We'll come right away. But don't wait for us. Sleep well."

"You too. Good night!" I said to everyone and turned away.

"Goodnight, Sam!" Charlie called after his brother, but there was something in his voice that made me look back at him. He waved at us, but his grin was so wide that I knew how thoroughly amused he was about what was to come. What had Sam told him? Was he just as worried and afraid of offending me as I was of him?

Not only did Charlie seem to have put the memory back in my head, but Sam also seemed thoughtful and we continued on our way to his house in silence. The only thing that eased my fear a little were the words Jenni and Bronwyn revealed to me today. 

To be continued...